1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fish and seafood handling tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pair of fish handling tongs that immobilize the fish and protect the user's hands from any defense mechanisms employed by the fish while the fish is being prepared or while removing a fishing hook therefrom.
The present invention relates to handling fish and other seafood items while preparing the same or while handling the animal after being caught. Different species of seafood employ various means of protection and self-defense against predators. When a fish, crab, or similar seafood animal is caught, handling the same exposes the user to these defense mechanisms, which can range from physical claws to toxic or poisonous appendages.
When handling fish after being reeled in by a fishing line, the fisherman must handle the first to grasp the fishing hook to remove the same, whereafter the fish can be stored, cleaned, or optionally released back into the water. Many fish include sharpened external fins or barbs, include sharpened teeth that can easy cut through skin, or employ various other defensive measures that can affect a handling fisherman. While many fishermen employ thick gloves to combat this risk, the fish may still squirm while out of water, making handling difficult and removing the hook a challenge.
The present invention addresses these concerns by providing an immobilizing tool that clamps onto the seafood item and employs sharpened teeth or tines along the arm members thereof to engage the seafood item, prevent movement thereof, and to distance the user's hands from the animal. The tool comprises a tong-like device with first and second arm members in pivotal relationship to one another. The interior surfaces of the arm members include elongated tines, while the proximal ends of the arm members secure to a pivoting clevis. The clevis extends from the first arm and supports the second arm from a pin joint offset from the first arm, thereby creating an offset between the proximal ends of the arms to accommodate seafood of various size and shape between the arms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to fish handling tools. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
One such device in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 7,661,222 to Bowers, which discloses a fish holding apparatus that includes a pair of biased plates supported by a holding mechanism that supports the plates in an upright condition. The mechanism may support the apparatus over a bucket, while the plates sandwich a fish therebetween to be cleaned or otherwise operated upon. The present invention relates to a pair of tong tools that are not biased together or affixable to a bucket, but rather provide a handheld tool for fisherman and seafood handlers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,994 to Lai discloses a handheld fish-holding tong tool, whereby the tool comprises a pair of tongs pinned together to form a scissor like configuration. The tongs comprise a pair of fish gripping head pieces and a pair of handles. Each head piece includes rounded projections and an inner plate for gripping a fish and controlling the same. The head pieces are housings with open interiors that support the inner plates therein. The configuration of the tongs of Lai diverges from that of the present invention, both along the clamping end and along the proximal end of the tool.
Similar to Lai is U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,327 to Casazza, which discloses a fish holder with handles and opposing jaws. The jaws each have generally a C-shaped configuration composed of a web portions and a pair of upstanding flange portions. The jaws are in pivotal relationship with respect to one another and the C-shaped jaws are fastened to each of the handles. The Casazza device similarly fails to anticipate or render obvious the configuration of the present tong tool.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,145 to Cunningham discloses a fish holder that permits a freshly caught fish to be controlled while still attached to the fishing line and fishing hook. The device comprises a funnel-like device with a longitudinal slot therealong. The device includes a narrow upper opening and a wider lower opening, whereby the fish's head is held within the narrow upper opening and secured therein by a clamp. The clamp includes a knife-like inner portion that engages the fish. The Cunningham device provides a funnel tool that is particularly useful for removing fish hooks from the mouth of the fish. The present invention provides a tong tool that can handle fish and other forms of seafood, including crabs, lobsters, and the like.
Overall, the present invention provides a handheld tool with a tong-like configuration. A first arm is connected to a second arm at a clevis joint and offset from one another. The tong support elongated tines that oppose one another along the interior surfaces of the arms. The tool is used to support seafood when removing hooks therefrom, while handling the seafood generally, or while cleaning and filleting the same. It is submitted that the present invention is substantially divergent in design elements from the prior art, and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing seafood handling tools. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.